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“Who Put Bella Down the Wych Elm?” – An Unsolved Murder Mystery Seventy-Seven Years On

The discovery of skeletal remains in a wych elm tree during the April of 1943 remains one of the most compelling mysteries of British crime history. Who was the woman whose remains were found in the wych elm tree? Who was responsible for the perplexing graffiti which began to appear a year after the discovery? Was espionage or witchcraft involved? Using pages from the Archive, we dive into this fascinating story, which, as the Sunday Mirror comments in 1944, is

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Hot Off The Press – New Additions This Week

We’ve added 210,632 historical newspaper pages to the Archive in the last seven days.  The latest additions include one brand new title – North Star and Farmers’ Chronicle. This Scottish paper was founded in 1893 and still exists today, now simply known as North Star. The paper mainly covers the old county of Ross & Cromarty taking in the towns of Dingwall, Tain, Alness and Invergordon. 835 issues of North Star and Farmers’ Chronicle, containing over 6,400 pages have been released spanning the years 1895-1903 and 1905-1911.

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Your Guide to Historical Birmingham Newspapers

The British Newspaper Archive is an unrivalled resource when it comes to tracing local history. Where else would you find millions of forgotten stories from your street, town or city all documented and ready to be discovered? Take Birmingham for example. The Archive contains over 50,000 pages and and a varied range of titles from the UK’s ‘Second City’ and this guide will show you how to make the most of them. Register now and view Birmingham newspapers for FREE You can

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19th-century medical fraudsters who got caught out

Caroline Rance, author of The Quack Doctor and What the Apothecary Ordered, got in touch to show us some of the shocking medical tales she’s unearthed. We’d love to hear about your own discoveries – email [email protected] to tell us about them.   ************** Whatever you search for in The British Newspaper Archive, chances are the articles you find will be close to adverts promoting cures for every kind of disease. Some brands were sold in good faith and became

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Lady Harberton, cycling and the ‘Rationals’ scandal

Michelle Higgs, author of A Visitor’s Guide to Victorian England, has uncovered lots of fascinating stories by searching our historical newspapers. She got in touch to tell us about Lady Florence Harberton and her fight for Victorian women’s freedom to wear practical clothing.   **************   It might surprise you to know that until the 1870s, it was rare to see unaccompanied middle or upper-class women walking in the streets. This was because they ran the risk of being mistaken

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Robert Louis Stevenson – born in Edinburgh on 13 November 1850

Robert Louis Stevenson

  Robert Louis Stevenson was born at 8 Howard Place in Edinburgh on 13 November 1850.  To celebrate the day, here is an early newspaper review (from January 1886) of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde – which was published on 5 January 1886.   After his death in 1894, the Graphic published a retrospective look at the works of Robert Louis Stevenson and his contribution to literature.    

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